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Steller's sea ape
Other names: Steller's sea monkey : Proposed scientific names: Siren cynocephala (Johann Julius Walbaum, 1792), Trichechus hydropithecus (George Shaw, 1800), Manatus simia (Johann Illiger, prior to 1811) Steller's sea ape was a merbeing reported from the , in the Gulf of Alaska, by Georg Wilhelm Steller on 10 August 1741. It may also have been observed in 1965. It was described as a red-furred, moustachioed seal-like animal.Eberhart, George (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology Description The sea ape was described as a five-foot long animal, mostly reddish in colour but greyer on the back and reddish-white on the underside. It had a tapering body, and a doglike head with pointed, erect ears and large eyes. Both principal eyewitnesses commented on its large, drooping "whiskers", which resembled a Chinese-style moustache. It has no visible front flippers or limbs, and has a bilobate tail, with the upper lobe twice as large as the lower. It was described by Steller as extremely playful, and capable of raising itself out of the water by one-third of its length, and remaining in this position for several minutes. It feeds on bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), which is common in the Gulf of Alaska. Sightings 1741 Steller recorded observing the sea ape on 10 August 1741, about 260 miles south of Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska, from the deck of the Saint Peter. On that date, Steller wrote in his diary that: in Guide des Animaux Cachés (2009).]] Steller observed the animal playing with strands of kelp for two hours before he took a shot at it "in order to get possession of it for a more accurate description", and missed.Ellis, Richard (1994) Monsters of the Sea Furthermore, according to Karl Shuker, it or others of its kind were observed by Steller later on.ShukerNature: STELLER'S SECRET FAUNA – GARGANTUAN SEA-COWS, INACCESSIBLE SEA-RAVENS, AND BEWHISKERED SEA-MONKEYS Steller made no mention of the sea ape incident in his official report, or in his scientific papers. 1965 In June 1965, 224 years after the previous sighting, an animal very much like Steller's sea ape was reported from the central Aleutian Islands by eminent adventurer Brigadier Miles Smeeton, his wife, his daughter, and a friend. As Karl Shuker tells it: Theories suggested the sea ape was an Arctic species of the dog-like leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx).]] According to Steller himself, the animal he saw "corresponds in all respects to Gesner's Simia marina Danica", meaning "Danish sea ape". Some online writers have taken this to mean the sea ape incident was a hoax, a mocking reference to the ship's captain, Vitus Bering, who was the only Dane onboard. This would explain why Steller did not refer to the animal outside of his diary.The Secret History Behind Steller's Sea Ape Steller's sea ape has popularly been identified as a seal or an otter, with which it shares its general appearance and playful behaviour. Steller was familiar with certain types of seals - although he would not see a Northern fur seal until his visit to the Commander Islands, and in poor lighting, with half the animal obscured by the sea, he could have mistaken a seal's hind flippers for a tail.Littlepage, Dean (2006) Steller’s Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska Chris Orrick and Jay Ellis Ransom speculated the sea ape could have been a vagrant specimen of the Hawaiian monk seal, observed at a time when it was undergoing its seasonal moult. However, this seal has no external ears. Smeeton did not believe the animal he had seen was a seal, and Roy P. Mackal rejected suggestions that Steller had misidentified a sea otter or a seal, writing that "the simplest explanation is that the 'sea-monkey' actually existed, and that Steller saw it for the first and last time before it became extinct".Mackal, Roy P. (1980) Searching for Hidden Animals Mackal wrote that the sea ape could have been a young specimen of an unknown Arctic species of leopard seal, which, however, also lack external ears. Bernard Heuvelmans also wrote that the sea ape could have been a northern form of leopard seal; he also suggested it may have been a juvenile [[living Basilosaurus|living Basilosaurus]], it's flippers held so close to its body as to be unnoticable.Heuvelmans, Bernard "Annotated Checklist of Apparently Unknown Animals With Which Cryptozoology Is Concerned", Cryptozoology 5 (1986) Karl Shuker also notes that "it seems highly improbable that any wildlife observer as experienced and as meticulously accurate in chronicling his observations afterwards as Steller would fail to recognise it as a type of seal or otter if this is truly all that it was. In fact, Steller was so perplexed by the creature that he made no attempt whatsoever to classify it", and that concludes that it "requires an appreciable stretch of the imagination to convert the sea-monkeys described here into any form of seal". Steller was also familiar with sea otters, which in any case do not grow much longer than two feet. George Eberhart suggests it may have been a juvenile specimen of Bernard Heuvelmans' hypothetical longneck seal. Notes and references Do you think the exists? If so, what do you think the is? Myth, folklore, hoax, or otherwise made-up Mistaken identity Unknown seal Living Basilosaurus Other Category:Cryptids Category:Oceans & seas Category:Bering Sea Category:Merbeings Category:Historical - Early Modern Category:Theory: Hoax Category:Theory: Mistaken identity Category:Theory: Northern leopard seal Category:Theory: Unknown hominid Category:Theory: Living fossil - Basilosaurid Category:No recent sightings